Tech brings Trafalgar Square lions to life

Digital artist anthropomorphises the square's infamous lion statues

There will be more life in Trafalgar Square this weekend, and it's all due to some digital artistry and the Square's infamous lion statues.

A group of digital artists have found a way to project animation on to the statue's faces, to make them appear as if they are talking.

To give the illusion that little bit of authority, they have enlisted Shaun Escoffery, the actor who plays 'Mufasa' in London's stage version of The Lion King, to lend his baroque tones to the special effect.

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The talking statues are part of a £3.25m campaign to bring tourists to London, despite the economic downturn.

The lion will mostly be advising tourists on Shop West End VIP Weekend.

The animator behind the talking lions is Jean-Paul Harney, who has worked on films like Babe: Pig In The City.

If you want to see the animation, then you'll find the lions chatting between 16:00 and 21:00 this weekend. Or you could just look at the results on YouTube.